Okay, forget about the Motorola Milestone and the Nokia N900, Samsung has done it again and released a mobile phone that can match these phones' features at a very cheap price: meet the Samsung Genio Slide.
Available At:
Design
Familiar with the Samsung Genio Touch? Well, the Samsung Genio Slide is pretty much its twin brother except that the Genio Slide has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The other thing that's different on the Genio Slide's face is that it features a secondary camera for video calling. The Samsung Genio Slide also features a 3.5mm headset jack on top and a standard microUSB slot on the side.
Samsung did a good job of making the Genio Slide thinner than the Nokia N900. Of course, the Milestone is still the thinnest mobile phone with a slide out keyboard but for a budget phone, it's amazing how thin Samsung has made this handset.
There's a four row QWERTY keyboard and the keys are large and have a nice tactile feedback. In fact, it's actually better typing on the Genio Slide than on my Milestone.
Features
The Samsung Genio Slide, like the Samsung Genio Touch has the latest Touchwiz UI. You can add widgets to the three homescreens. As for the homescreens, you can change the wallpapers per homescreen or you can choose one wallpaper for the three, kinda like the N900.
The screen is pretty much responsive and unlike Nokia's S60, kinetic scrolling is present on all menus. Of course, at this price point, you can't really expect it to be as fluid as on the iPhone, Milestone or the N900 but the screen responsiveness is pretty much adequate, meaning it doesn't have any annoying lags but it's not that fast either.
Now what I like about Samsung is that they're pretty much able to put anything on any device and then slap a pretty competitive price on it. Take this whole touchscreen and slide-out keyboard segment of the mobile phone market. We have the Nokia N97, N97 Mini, Nokia N900, Motorola Milestone, HTC Touch Pro2, Xperia X1, and Samsung B7610 competing in that department and most of these mobile phones are priced somewhere around £400 or free at around £30-£35 a month tariff. Now features on these handsets are pretty much common, 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, at least 5 megapixel cameras, and GPS. Then comes Samsung with the Genio Slide which also has 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth. 3G and WiFi isn't really common on mid-range handsets, usually it's one or the other but not the Samsung Genio Slide, this mobile phone gives you two choices in connecting to the internet plus 3.2 megapixel camera with smile detection (which not even the iPhone has), and A-GPS. And the price? Around half the price of the high-end mobile phones or free on £15 a month tariff on Vofadone!! Now THAT's value for money.
As for the media player, I actually like Samsung TouchPlayer better than the standard music player on the Milestone. Plus, the Samsung Genio Slide actually supports DivX videos (take that, Android). I have to scratch DivX videos. The specifications on some websites claim it has but after trying to play a 356MB DivX video, it comes up as "file unsupported" so I guess Samsung scratched the DivX support on the retail units. The music player can play MP3, AAC and WMA audio files. Speaker quality is adequate though nothing comparable with high end mobile phones, audio quality through headphones is pretty nice, actually above average. If you're tired of listening to your playlist, you can always open up the FM Radio. The music player UI isn't something to write home about but it does offer 11 sound effects option, two of which can only be used with the headset.
Another great feature of the Samsung Genio Slide is that it supports Microsoft Exchange which is good news for business users but ordinary folks like us don't really give an A**. Oh wait, I take that back, you can actually make use of the exchange support by setting up your gmail account though I haven't actually tried that. Setting up your email is actually pretty easy or tricky depending on your tech knowledge. You need to know your email client's incoming and outgoing email server but it's nothing that a quick google wouldn't fix. The Samsung Genio Slide also has an onscreen keyboard (alphanumeric in portrait mode) which is really responsive and you don't have to slide out the keyboard in case you need to do a quick text response. My only problem is that in landscape mode, there's no onscreen keyboard, you have to slide out the QWERTY one which I guess is a good call considering the screen area would be too small for a landscape onscreen QWERTY keyboard, but still, it would be nice to have that option. Text messages can be viewed in threaded mode which seems to be the standard these days.
As for the 3 megapixel camera, it lacks autofocus but it has geotagging and face detection (which is fun but not really quite useful). Shutter speed is actually faster than the Milestone and as usual, image quality specially in outdoors shot is pretty decent. Here's two sample shots:
The web browser has an option to enable flash, I turned it on but I still get the adobe logo when viewing the videos on this blog. Anyways, the web browser is alright. I mean, it's not blazing fast but it will do when you need to have a quick browse of some of your favorite websites.
And as icing to this feature phone, Samsung also added a task manager which can be accessible by holding the menu button. Although it's a nice added touch, you'll find that it's not as nice as the task manager on the higher end smartphones because most of the time, you'll see a message regarding how the phone is out of resources.
Conclusion
I can't really put the Samsung Genio Slide in league with the Milestone and Nokia N900 because in the truest sense of the word, the latter two handsets are smartphones and have their own operating systems and applications which make them more of a mobile computer. The Genio Slide, while it offers almost the same features in terms of connectivity and emails, only has java applications going for it. Now I'm not saying that the Samsung Genio Slide can't hold its own against these handsets, in fact, it's on a league of its own. It's a mobile phone that gives you so much more value for your money.
College kids and teenagers don't have to break the bank in order to get the iPhone, N900 or the Droid in order to connect with their friends, check your email or your Facebook status because the Genio Slide can do all of that. Think of it as the netbook of mobile phones (it's not as good as the Macbook or Vaio but it will do). No doubt like the Samsung Genio, the Genio Slide will definitely create another stir and would become popular to texters and social network addicts alike.
The LG Viewty is an old model but it seems that a lot of people have this now because most mobile phone retailers are putting it on sale. If you got your phone locked to a mobile network like 3 or Virgin, I found this helpful guide to help you unlock it without you having to wait a specific number of months before they give you the unlock code. WARNING: The instructions are a bit technical and you can risk bricking your phone so use at your own risk.
Ah, so the battle for cheap touchscreen phones continues. We already have the Samsung Genio Touch, Samsung Tocco Lite, LG Cookie, and if you add a few more ££ there's the Nokia 5530 and the LG Pop. The Nokia 5230 is Nokia's latest addition to the cheap touchscreen phone market. Let's see how it holds up to the competition.
Buy the Nokia 5230:
Design
The Nokia 5230 pretty much took its design cues from Nokia's first all touchscreen phone: the Nokia 5800. This phone has a 3.2 inch resistive touchscreen and a 3.5mm headset jack on top which is really a nice addition considering it's not even an XpressMusic handset. Like the Samsung Genio Touch, the Nokia 5230 offers a colorful back cover, an improvement to the basic black on the Nokia 5800. Although the 5230 and the 5800 pretty much looks the same, on paper, the Nokia 5230 is a bit heavier and the reason for that? Only Nokia knows.
The packaging of the Nokia 5230 is really nice. There are two included interchangeable back covers and each back covers comes with their own stylus. Aside from the included stylus, the Nokia 5230 also comes with a plectrum like the Nokia 5800.
Features
The 5230's homescreen features a Contacts bar for easy access to your contacts. The bottom is the shortcut bar and the middle is reserve when the music player is playing in the background.
The Nokia 5230 now has kinetic scrolling which means you can flick through lists like on the iPhone, however, it's not really implemented on the entire UI. There are instances wherein you still need to press on that scroll bar. Responsiveness is really good and in fact, probably much better than the first generation 5800 I've seen.
Messaging reminds me of the Samsung i8910 HD (since both phones runs Symbian OS). In portrait mode, you get the basic alphanumeric keypad but when you rotate it to landscape mode, you get the full QWERTY keypad. Setting up an email account is pretty easy and if you have gmail, yahoo, hotmail or other major email providers, it's as easy as putting in your username and password.
The FM radio is still present, the music player is actually pretty good and supports MP3/WMA/WAV/RA/AAC/M4A audio files. Audio quality through the headset is pretty decent, however the speaker quality needs improvement.
The browser isn't something to brag about especially if you're only getting EDGE connection but you can probably do better if you download Opera for Symbian. The Nokia 5230 is in fact only a 3G phone without WiFi. Nokia reserved the WiFi for the midrange Nokia 5530. HOWEVER, and this is still unconfirmed, the Purple Edition that Vodafone is displaying on their website seems to have WiFi as what Vodafone puts in the specifications page. Someone has called up Vodafone and someone said that the Purple Edition, which is probably exclusive to Vodafone, touts WiFi.
As for the camera, the 5230 only has 2 megapixel camera. Video recording is okay if you're only going to upload to YouTube and the picture quality is decent when shooting landscape photos in broad daylight but indoor shots is pretty lousy.
Conclusion
Nokia seems to be gearing the Nokia 5230 as the Samsung Genio's main competitor but the Genio is being offered by the major carriers under Pay As You Go and it seems Vodafone only has the 5230 for free under a £15 a month tariff. It's a cheap tariff but it's still £15 for 24 months. But if Pay as You Go or Pay Monthly doesn't really matter and you really want a good touchscreen phone, the Nokia 5230 offers some pretty good features. For one thing, 3G means faster internet connection for emails, streaming vidoes, and web browsing which the Genio lacks but right now, the Genio is still the cheapest and would fit the budget of parents wanting to give their tweeners a mobile phone or those who're looking for their first touchscreen phones but on a tight budget. Yes, the Genio doesn't have 3G but EDGE will suffice for checking quick emails or your friend's Facebook status.
However, the three major carriers isn't your only source for contract mobile phones and some mobile phone retailers such as Carphone Warehouse, dial-a-phone, mobiles.co.uk, etc may offer the Nokia 5230 unlocked or on Pay as You Go so in that case, the Nokia 5230 offers the better features.
As many of you Apple fanboys know, next week, there will be an Apple event. Now while most are excited about rumors of Apple's iSlate Tablet (an enormous version of the iPhone running probably OSX), mobile phone fanatics are more excited about what's next for the iPhone. As tradition would have it, Apple has the habit of releasing a new iPhone every year in June ever since it launched the first generation iPhone.
So, what can we expect of the new iPhone 4G? Well, it would probably run the iPhone OS 4.0 since according to some insiders, Apple's event will focus on three products: iLife, iPhone OS 4.0, and their tablet. Of course according to the same insiders, we won't see any new iPhone hardware (probably because Apple is intent on pushing the same design like what it did with the 3GS).
Another source of iPhone 4G rumors is Bloomberg, according to Mirror, Bloomberg says that its sources have told it that the upcoming iPhone will have touch sensitive casing, like on Apple's Magic Mouse as well as a 5 megapixel camera (still pretty slow because by 2010, manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Nokia are pushing 8-12 megapixel cameraphones).
Well, that's it so far. I am curious about OS 4.0. Hopefully, Apple puts in the much needed task switcher to enable real multitasking and as for the touch sensitive casing, I really don't know what use that would be but then again, this is Apple we're talking about so if they did do it, expect more touch sensitive casings on mobile phones in the near future.
If you're an Android fanatic, you know that Google has a way of codenaming their upcoming Android updates. First it was the Cupcake, then the Donut and then Eclair. You know that their codenames have something to do with food, most of them are sweet and that it's in alphabetical order so most people in Android forums have come up with a guessing game on which name will be next. A lot of people are betting on "Flan" but looks like it's not "Flan" but "Froyo", according to Engadget.
Of course, what we have right now is just a name and no details at what updates are contained in the upcoming OS but whether it's Flan, Froyo or Fruit Salad, I just want it to be compatible with my Motorola Milestone.
Not everyone is into touchscreen phones, some of us wants a physical keyboard. But not all phones with slide-out QWERTY keyboard are created equal so let me compare two of the most sought after QWERTY-keyboard phones in the market today: The Motorola Droid also known as the Motorola Milestone in Europe and the Nokia N900.
Design
Obviously, the Nokia N900 is the thicker of the two mobile phones. In fact, the Motorola Milestone is only as thick as the N900's physical keyboard. The N900 is also the shorter of the two handsets, just about the size of the Motorola Milestone's screen which is understandable considering that the latter has a bigger screen size. On paper, the Nokia N900 is heavier than the Motorola Droid but for me, it seems the Droid is heavier. The Motorola Milestone wins the design award because it's just so thin and less of a brick to carry around.
As for the QWERTY keyboard the Nokia N900 has three layers of QWERTY keypad with a nice tactile feel, the Motorola Droid has four layers of QWERTY keypad and a large directional key on the right. The keypad on the Droid is somewhat flat and I have a tendency to mistype a lot on the Milestone than on the N900 so the best QWERTY keypad award goes to the N900.
User Interface
The Nokia N900 has a resistive touchscreen while the Motorola Milestone has a capacitive touchscreen. You don't have to press the screen as hard on the Milestone compared with the N900 and the Milestone provides a much more fluid kinetic scrolling compared with the N900. Both handsets have three homescreens which you can add shortcuts or widgets to. The screen on the Motorola Milestone is also much more responsive compared with the N900 as I don't know if you really need to double tap an icon to get a program to open on the N900 or the screen is really just unresponsive. If it's the former, it kills the user interface because a lot of people, including me, prefer one click access to programs. On the other hand, the N900 has a very nice task manager/switcher which you can gain access to on any programs. The Milestone doesn't seem to have that (or maybe I'm just missing it) unless you download a third party program but most programs on the Android marketplace are task enders and not switchers.
It's almost a tie on the User interface award but I'm leaning a bit towards the Droid because of the more fluid UI but don't count out the N900 yet. A few more fixes from Maemo and I'm sure those annoying double taps would be gone and it would more or less tie the UI between the two handsets.
Messaging
As for the messaging features, again, it's almost a tie. Both mobile phones feature threaded messaging and both support Microsoft Exchange although I heard that the N900 doesn't support Exchange 2003. Anyways, setting up your email accounts is really easy but again, the Motorola Droid has the slight upper hand because it supports MMS messages.
Phonebook
Phonebook on both handsets are almost identical. You can get thumbnail images of your friends while sorting through your contacts. As for finding your contacts, the Motorola Droid features a much appealing way of looking for your contacts, you can hold the screen and then move your fingers up and down to scroll through your contacts alphabetically but Nokia N900 features a faster way of looking for your contacts by just typing their names on the keypad. Basically, I'll leave it up to you whether you prefer beauty over efficiency.
Multimedia
The clear winner in this department is the Nokia N900. The N900 has a better native audio player and can playback divX videos. But viewing videos is more appealing on the Motorola Droid because of its screen resolution. Also, if you download MixZing Lite for Android, you'll get a better music player than on the N900 with the former having the ability to automatically recommend songs for your and tag your music with albumart.
As for audio quality through the speakers, bass-centric people will lean towards the N900 more but the Motorola Milestone's audio quality offers better midranges.
Browser
The Nokia N900 offers faster rendering of webpages and flash support so it should be the winner of the best browser right? Well, if speed and flash are your only considerations in a good browser then yes, but for me, the UI of the Motorola Milestone's browser is better than the N900. Why? Although the Nokia N900 can finish loading a webpage faster than the Motorola Droid, I sometimes still see that checkerboard pattern when scrolling through pages whereas there's no checkerboard on the Motorola Milestone. Another thing is the zooming factor. With the Motorola Milestone, you get multitouch zooming so let's say you're holding the handset in landscape mode with the QWERTY keyboard out, you want to zoom in on a page, you just use both your thumbs to zoom in and out, everything is natural, no awkward hand movement. On the N900, if you want to zoom in, you can either use the swirl-zoom feature or the volume rocker. The swirl-zoom feature is a waste of time while using the volume rocker to zoom in is a bit awkward since the volume rocker is a bit flat and you can't really zoom in on a specific part of the paga because the volume rocker zooms in on the center of a webpage.
Anyways, for me, the Motorola Milestone still has a better browser but then again, if you're in the states and since your Droid doesn't have multitouch, the N900 then would be a better browser.
Camera
Both mobile phones offers 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash. The Nokia N900 has a faster shutter speed but as for picture quality, I'll leave you to decide. Here are some sample pics taken with the Nokia N900 and the Motorola Droid.
Nokia N900 Sample Pictures
Motorola Milestone Sample Pics
Battery Life
Without a doubt, the Motorola Milestone is the winner in this department. The Motorola Milestone's batter lasts 1 1/2 day with medium to heavy use while the Nokia N900's battery only lasted a day with minimal use.
Conclusion
It's really hard to put a clear winner. On one hand, out of the box, the Nokia N900 wins the best multimedia phone and best QWERTY keypad, audio quality is good too but on the other hand, the Motorola Milestone with MixZing media player and hopefully with future DivX support would hold its own in the multimedia category. The user experience is nice on the Milestone and it's also good as a touchscreen phone by itself without the QWERTY keypad whilst the Nokia N900 is basically useless as a touchscreen phone without the QWERTY keypad. As for applications, the Android Market has a lot more apps already out compared with the N900 which is a younger mobile OS compared with the Mielstone but I see a lot of potential for the N900 especially if developers continue developing cool applications for latter.
But in my own opinion, I would prefer the Motorola Droid based on user experience. There's a lot more kinetic scrolling action on the Milestone and it offers a lot more options to users. I mean, if you prefer a touchscreen phone, then just use the Milestone as it is, without the keyboard and it still works great and if you need a physical keyboard, just slide out the QWERTY pad and you get a REALLY good browsing experience especially if you're a blogger on the go.
Again, this is just my opinion and if Nokia is able to add a better zoom option on the browser or a more fluid kinetic scrolling which no doubt is not that far off considering they've been recently updating the N900's firmware these past few weeks, then I might gravitate to this device. But for now, I think I'll stick with my Milestone as my primary mobile phone.
Someone was asking me where to find cool games for the Nokia N900, well I found two and I'm definitely going to try it on mine (yeah, I bit the bullet, bought one and will compare it side by side with my Motorola Milestone this weekend. Hopefully, I'll be able to update my Nokia N900 review soon).
I used to be addicted to this Starcraft Game and a guy named linman was able to port it to the N900. The video of the N900 running Starcraft will be posted below and it looks awesome. There's also a port for Warcraft. You can find instructions on how to install Starcraft on the Nokia N900 here and for Warcraft on N900 installation instructions here. Files needed to install the game is also included in the instructions. So head on over to the links and enjoy. Will probably install mine over the weekend.
I've been getting this question a lot both in emails and in the comments section of my Samsung Genio Touch Review. Same question for the Samsung Genio TXT. Unfortunately, it seems Samsung and even OEM manufacturers haven't released any back covers for the Samsung Genio TXT. Tried searching Google and eBay but couldn't seem to find one. For the Genio Touch, two good websites to buy from is Amazon and Mobile Fun.
Most of the back covers from Amazon are made by OEM manufacturers or third parties (not by Samsung themselves) so you might experience times when your back cover doesn't fit right, but hey, it's cheap and you can probably exchange them. There are also original back covers and Amazon lists these battery covers as "by Samsung" although they're sold by third parties too. Genio battery covers range from £3.99 for OEM and £7-8 for original covers.
MobileFun on the other hand have original Samsung Genio back covers but they call them "fashion jackets". Price for original Genio covers are higher, £12.47 to be exact, compared to OEM covers which are £8.47.
Amazon has cheaper battery covers , but MobileFun offers 30 day money back guarantee and 1 year warranty so it's a safer bet.
If you've been using the Internet for some time now, you might have noticed that there are barcodes either in people's avatars or signatures in forums, some have them on their blogs and webpages. These barcode-like icons you have seen which are square and have have smallers squares inside them are called QR codes or 2D barcodes. QR codes have information such as text, a website URL, or a phone number.
You can scan QR codes using your mobile phone's camera but you need a software to do so. To search for QR code scanner for your mobile phone, just do a google search for "qr code scanner ".
You can also easily generate a 2D barcode for yourself using any of the free QR codes generator on the Internet. In my case, I use http://qrcode.kaywa.com/.
Okay, for those who've recently purchased their Motorola Droid aka Milestone here in the UK and wondering what kind of apps you can put there, here are my top suggestions. All of these Droid applications are free and can be found in the Android Marketplace.
MixZing Lite - The native media player on the Motorola Droid is disappointing. With MixZing Lite, this application is what the Android player should be. It has the ability to recommend songs for you and it can put Album Art on your MP3s automatically. Really nice application and no Android user should leave home without it.
Advanced Task Manager Free - Very useful for speeding up your Milestone/Droid. Some applications are kept running in the background by your Milestone especially if you just use the home button to exit the application. Background applications significantly slows down your mobile phone's performance. Advanced Task Manager free puts a widget in your homescreen which you can press and automatically kills background apps.
Tangram Lite - Tangram Lite is a great way to kill time. Basically, in a Tangram puzzle, you have to put together a picture using the different shaped puzzles provided. There are also other free Tangram applications in the app market but this one has a very nice graphic interface.
Sticky Note - Very useful for forgetful persons like me. Of course, you can always set reminders using the Calendar app but the beauty of this app is that it's right there on your homescreen so you can do a task early if you happen to have a free time before the alarm on your calendar goes off.
Astro Explorer - Astro file explorer is a great tool for exploring your phone and your memory card. I don't know what use some of you may find with this application but for me, it's useful because I use my memory cards to store different files and I'd like to have the option to browse my memory cards without using a PC.
Mystique Ch1: Foetus - This is a nice game with great graphics. Perfect for showing off what your Droid can do. It's a bit scary for me and those of the faint of heart should use this with caution. A word of warning: scary surprises await you on this game.
Palringo - Best free IM messenger. You can have access to your YM, MSN, and even Facebook chat accounts.
Bloo - The best Facebook application for Android. Of course, if privacy issues are your concern, this may not be the app for you because you have to give it access to your Facebook account but currently, this is the only Facebook app I could find which allows me to leave comments. Would have been better if I could also send messages using this app.
Now while I'm on the fence whether I should be sorry for purchasing the Motorola Milestone ahead of time, only to find out that the Google Nexus One will be released a few short days later, my hands-on time with the Google Phone has put me at ease--I shouldn't be too sorry after all. Find out why on my review.
Design
As you can probably tell, the Google Nexus One is thinner than the Motorola Droid / Milestone and is definitely much lighter to hold. The Google Nexus One is also marginally wider than the Milestone and both phones are almost at the same height. Although both mobile phones sport 3.7 inch screens, the Google Phone is supposed to have an AMOLED screen. Hmm, maybe it's just Motorola's backlight but the former's screen seem washed out so the Milestone screen's comes out more vivid when both mobile phones are compared side by side.
The Google Nexus One is made of some soft velvety material, it's what most bloggers refer to as a soft back finish. Because of this, the Google Nexus One feels luxurious to hold.
The Motorola Droid or Milestone here in the UK did an amazing feat of being the thinnest mobile phone with a slide out QWERTY keyboard but Motorola didn't do much with the Milestone's design thus the Google Nexus One comes out as the sexier mobile phone between the two.
Features
Feature-wise, aside from the faster processor, bigger RAM, and Android 2.1, almost all other features of the Google Phone and the Motorola Milestone are the same: 3G/HSDPA, WiFi (but the Nexus One supports 802.11 n), Bluetooth, and GPS.
So what's new on Android 2.1? Well first, there are now 5 homescreens with the ability to get a preview of your homescreens in a card-like interface. Gone also is the arrow button which you can flick up and down to open and close the main menu screen. Instead, there's just one icon to press in the homescreen and your main menu will kind of have an animated transition effect which would replace your homescreen, similar to that onthe Nokia N900. The UI of the Google Nexus One features more animated content (maybe because they don't know what to do with that much processing power so they're wasting it on animated screens). Speaking of animations, the media gallery is another place where Google peppered with animated UI. I'm not saying it's bad, it's actually REALLY pretty and good for boasting but I'm not saying that it's actually useable.
Another new thing on the Google Phone is the live wallpapers (again, it means the wallpapers are animated). This is nothing new for those who have Sony Ericsson mobile phones and have been loving their live, flash-based homescreens but of course, because the Google Nexus one has a 1GHz processor, the live wallpapers on this mobile phone is more amazing.
As for the 5 megapixel camera, that's another thing that the Google Phone has over the Motorola Droid. The Nexus One simply snaps pictures faster, period. I was actually disappointed with the Milestone's camera especially at night or even in daylight but the Google Phone definitely improved on this department.
As for audio quality, when using earphones, both the Motorola Droid and the Google Nexus One is head to head (but then again, maybe my JBL headphones are just good) but when it comes to speaker, the Motorola Milestone comes out on top as Google's phone seems more tinny than usual. Speaking of audio, Google didin't feel the need to change the music player on Android 2.1 which is really disappointing. They could have made use of their animations on this department as I would have loved to see a much better implementation of the iPhone's CoverFlow interface.
As for the browser, there's not much difference again in this department except that the Google's phone doesn't support Multitouch. Of course, those itching for multitouch on the Nexus One can download the Dolphin browser in the Android market (for free) to experience multitouch on their mobile phones. Because of the 1GHz Snapdragon processor, the Nexus One is able to load web pages a bit more faster than the Motorola Milestone.
Conclusion
Like I said, I didn't feel that much disappointed after having a play with the Google Nexus One. Sure, it's a pretty phone and the new UI is snappier and much more of an eye candy compared with the Milestone but Droid/Milestone owners don't have to break the bank to upgrade their mobile phones that soon. As for those on the fence whether to get this, the Droid, or the iPhone 3GS, well, the Google Nexus One has come head to head with the iPhone 3GS and the UI of the Nexus One is up to speed with the iPhone and, although iPhone fans might hate me, I must say that because of the animations, the Nexus One's UI has a slightly more edge over the iPhone. As for Android lovers, you might want to get the Milestone for the physical keyboard but if that doesn't matter that much to you, then the Google Nexus One is the better choice. Early adopters might want to visit Vodafone from time to time because word has it that they'll be offering the Google Nexus One in a few weeks.
Darn. If this keeps up, I'm never going to buy a mobile phone early. I'm wasting perfectly good money. When I purchased my Motorola Milestone, it was around £450 and now it's only £399.99. That's £50 down the drain.
Anyways, for those who don't have their Milestone yet, you can buy it at Expansys. Or you can wait a few more weeks and hopefully, the price will drop again. Since none of the UK carriers seem to want to carry the Milestone, Expansys is also offering the Motorola Milestone with a £35 a month contract for 18 months for only £49.99.
Honestly, UK carriers are missing out on the Milestone. It's currently THE phone of the moment in the US and honestly, it's totally comparable with the iPhone. Maybe they're concentrating on the iPhone or waiting for the Google Nexus One.
Hmm, I wonder if the Nokia N900 will be a Vodafone exclusive? Although mobiles.co.uk is selling the phone unlocked, they're only selling it through Vodafone contract. Anyways, Vodafone subscribers due for an upgrade may want to look at the Nokia N900 because Vodafone is now selling it online. Pricing for the Nokia N900 is steep though, free at £40 a month for 24 months or £45 for 18 months. They're selling the iPhone 3GS for free at a much cheaper price plan. Anyways, according to Vodafone, price plans include free 300 minutes online.
If you're looking for cheaper tariffs for the Nokia N900 on Vodafone, mobiles.co.uk, is offering the handset for £79.99 with £25 a month tariff inclusive of 600 minutes + Unlimited Texts with Vodafone Passport.
So, you're able to see the best mobile phones of 2009 and if you're considering purchasing any one of those phones and you're an early adopter, you might want to wait because a lot of newer phones will be released this year. Be aware that some of the phones listed here are only rumors and may or may not be released.
iPhone 4G
Concept photo only
A lot of rumors have been going around about a new iPhone, mainly because Apple has so far consistently released new iPhones every year. The rumored iPhone 4G is still substantially a rumor and there are no leaked photos yet much less any leaked specifications of the device but a lot of Apple fans are listing their wishlist which includes: multi-tasking, 1080p recording, 5 megapixel camera. LOL, knowing how Apple is so behind when it comes to mobile hardware, I'd say this specifications will remain a wish.
LG GC990
While Samsung and Sony Ericsson's 12 megapixel cameras have long been in the market, it's quite strange that LG is left behind and still hasn't released their own 12 megapixel cameraphone considering that they were the first to announce an 8 megapixel cameraphone. The LG GC990 is supposed to be their own 12 megapixel mobile phone and they've even released pictures of it but according to an LG statement, the GC990 is a concept device and the company has yet to finalize any plans on releasing the phone.
Samsung B7620
I have yet to see any formal introduction of the Samsung B7610 in the UK and although some retailers are already carrying the B7610, I haven't seen any carriers offering it. It might be because Samsung decided to put the B7610 in the back burner to make way for its better looking brother, the Armani totting Samsung B7620. Of course, they may yet decide to put this in the back burner too because they'll be too busy promoting their Bada OS.
Google Nexus One
Out of all the rumored mobile phones the Google Nexus One is the one which is definitely confirmed for a release next year. The Nexus One is an HTC made, Google branded mobile phone which is due for US T-Mobile release. Specs include 1GHz snapdragon processor, 512MB ROM, 512MB RAM, microSD card slot, 3.7 inch display and a 5 megapixel camera. In fact, Engadget already had a hands-on with the phone.
Samsung M8920
Out of all the mobile phones rumored, this is the one I'm definitely looking forward to. The Samsung M8920 seems to be the the Samsung SCH W880, and the reason why I'm looking forward to this? Because if true, the Samsung M8920 will be the first mobile phone (outside Korea) to feature a 3x optical zoom on board and it will also have a 12 megapixel camera. Of course, GSMArena has already reported on this a few months back so either Samsung will announce this at CES or MWC or just like LG GC990, it's a concept phone.
So year 2009 has ended and now it's time to sum up what the mobile phone world has given us during that year. Please know that this is solely my opinion but if you have your own top 10 list, please feel free to share in the comments section below.
10. Sony Ericsson W995
I actually couldn't make my top 10 list complete and only added the Sony Ericsson W995 as an after thought because I don't have a Sony Ericsson phone on my list. Some of you might say what about the Satio (Idou)? Well, the Satio has recently been pulled from the UK because of some software issues though I think it's back on sale again. Nevertheless, I couldn't put it as one of the best because of that. The Sony Ericsson W995 is probably on of Sony Ericsson's best selling phones in 2009. It has an 8 megapixel camera and a good music player. Sure the design isn't astounding but for 2009, this was probably Sony's best.
9. Apple iPhone 3GS
Apple fans would probably kill me for putting the 3GS in second to the last place instead of it being first or second but one of my criteria for being the best mobile phone of the year is that the phone should offer something innovative. The iPhone 3GS only offers a faster processor and improved camera, something which other mobile phone manufacturers already have. Sure, their UI is still the best but again, there's nothing new here.
8. Blackberry Bold 9700
I personally haven't had a go with the Blackberry Bold 9700 but word has it that it's currently the best mobile phone in Blackberry's arsenal. The Blackberry Bold features the classic Blackberry keyboard design and the faster phone and reliable messaging features would make this phone the best for some smartphone users.
7. Samsung M8910 Pixon12
Samsung seems to be the leader in mobile phone innovation last year. The Korean mobile phone manufacturer was certainly the first to release the first 12 megapixel mobile phone (outside Japan and Korea) and the Samsung Pixon12 certainly delivers. This mobile phone currently has the largest camera resolution around so if you're into cameraphones, be sure to choose this.
6. Palm Pre
Ah, the mobile phone that was supposed to raise Palm Pre from the ashes. The Palm Pre certainly delivers UI wise but the lack of applications available seems to turn off some users. It's one of the iPhone killers on my list and it's definitely worth a go so if you're on O2 and need an upgrade, the Palm Pre should be on your list of mobile phones to choose from.
5. Samsung i8910 HD
Like I said, Samsung is the leader in innovation when it comes to mobile phones last year. The Samsung i8910 HD is currently the only mobile phone capable of 720p (HD) recording and has an 8 megapixel camera which is one of the best 8 megapixel shooters around. The screen is very responsive but alas, the Symbian S60 interface simply limits this device.
4. Nokia N900
The Nokia N97 failed to make a splash in the mobile phone world because it was plagued with problems plus the S60 interface doesn't really play nice with touchscreens. So Nokia decided to put Maemo OS on their mobile phone and thus the N900 came to be. The Nokia N900 seems to be the best smartphone in Nokia's portfolio with a fast UI and a good browser which supports flash. A lot of people certainly prefers it over the N97 and I'm actually pretty excited about the potential of this mobile phone too.
3. Motorola Milestone
If Palm has the Pre, then Motorola has the Milestone which will hopefully revive this American company. The Motorola Milestone aka the Droid has been making a splash in the US and hopefully, it would make a stir in the UK markets this 2010. The Motorola Milestone features Android 2.0 OS which is really fast and is currently the thinnest mobile phone with a slide out QWERTY keyboard. You can check out my Motorola Milestone review and hopefully, some carrier would subsidize this mobile phone.
2. HTC Hero
I was going to place the Milestone on second place but aside from the thin form factor and Android 2.0, I feel like HTC Hero should get the second place because of HTC Sense. If Samsung was the king of hardware innovation, HTC is the king of mobile phone UI innovation in 2009. HTC has managed to turn the otherwise dull Android 1.5 interface into an eye candy and has made the HTC Hero a worthy iPhone competitor. Specs is also not that bad and once Android 2.0 comes in with Google Navigation, then watch out world, the HTC Hero will certainly make it to number 1.
1. HTC HD2
Although I'm an avid windows mobile user, I didn't put the HTC HD2 on number one because of WinMo, I put it there because of what HTC had done with WinMo...which is, they covered it up. Basically, they put the Sense UI on the WinMo interface plus thanks to Windows Mobile 6.5, we are now seeing a Windows Mobile phone with multitouch support. Plus throw in a 1GHz snapdragon processor and a massive 4.3 inches screen and the HTC HD2 is the most powerful mobile phone in the market today..until Google Nexus One is release of course.
For any feedback or queries, you can contact me at: feedback[AT]cellphone-reviews[.]co[.]uk. You can also reach me here if you want me to review a phone or product.
